Here I Go Again

I don't know where I'm going

But, I sure know where I've been

Hanging on the promises

In songs of yesterday

An' I've made up my mind,

I ain't wasting no more time

But, here I go again

Here I go again

Those lyrics from Whitesnake are oddly appropriate for next week as I will be heading down to South Carolina to participate in the Super Bowl of F3, the legendary USMC Leatherneck mud run!  Here I go again on another fitness adventure, but I'm not going on my own as the song says.

Just last Saturday I celebrated my one year anniversary in F3 by going back to where it all started for me - Ascent.  Ascent is a moderate Saturday F3 workout, but moderate doesn't equal easy and I didn't bring an easy workout either but I was so excited to see a new guy join F3 last week and I see today he's posted again today.  That's what it's all about.  You post to get in shape, you don't get in shape then post.

Besides being a bit scared, I'm so excited to finally see the true brotherhood that is F3 in action in the biggest way yet in my life.  I am running with three brothers from my Friday/Saturday workouts in Union County and all of them are strong and will probably be pulling me along at some point, but it's not about me, or them, it's about us.  It's about the team that is F3.  I Am Third is one of the many mantras of F3, but when it happens, what an amazing thing it is.  When a brother kneels down on the ground to allow me to climb on his leg so I can scale a wall, that's I Am Third.  When brothers are cheering me on or ensuring I'm safe, or any number of things, that's I Am Third and it's what our world is dying for.

Our world has sold us many lies, but one of the biggest is that to find true joy in life, you need to focus on yourself. It's a lie.

How did Mother Theresa, Gandhi, St. Francis of Assisi, the Lord Jesus or any number of great people of the past make their mark?  Not through touting themselves, but by serving others.  

I'm not talking about selling it all and moving to India, but sometimes that's what it takes for someone to follow the heart of God.

But what are you doing today that helps someone else?  It doesn't have to be complicated, it might be as simple as leading a workout, smiling at a stranger on the street, NOT cursing at someone who is being obnoxious in the car, or it could be moving to Africa and falling in love with her people and working to make someone else's life better.

We don't do these things to earn God's favor, if you are a child of God you already have that.  We do these things out of gratitude for what God did for us on the Cross so many years ago.

God took on human flesh, lived a perfect life for thirty-three years, then gave it all up to be beaten to a bloody pulp and give up his life on a nasty, cruel cross.  That's how much God loved you and me.  If God loves you that much, can't you take a moment to help someone else along the way?  

Until next time...